Ike Amos
Dublin, Ireland — The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spent N89.108 billion in 2021, to secure and maintain its pipeline network and also in its search for crude oil in the frontier basins, currently in the northern parts of the country.
In a report to the country’s fiscal authorities, the NNPC disclosed that pipeline security and maintenance costs gulped N52.284 billion in the one-year period, while N36.824 billion was expended on frontier exploration services in the period under review.
Giving a breakdown of the amount spent on pipeline security and maintenance in the year, the NNPC stated that while in January, no cost was incurred, in February, March, April, May and June 2021, N5.813 billion, N5.320 billion, N2.641 billion, N5.258 billion and N6.174 billion, respectively, were expended.
For the months of July, September, October, November and December 2021, the NNPC stated that it spent N7.352 billion, N2.3901 billion, N7.901 billion, N2.240 billions and N7.284 billion, respectively, on pipeline security and maintenance costs. No cost was incurred in August.
The NNPC disclosed that the N52.284 billion spent on pipeline repairs and maintenance cost in 2021 was N22.602 billion higher than the N29.682 billion originally budgeted for the item.
Furthermore, for frontier exploration services, involving the ongoing search for crude oil in the northern parts of the country, the NNPC stated that it spent N1.964 billion, N1.920 billion, N2.255 billion, N3.216 billion and N2.715 billion in January, February, March, May and June 2021, respectively, with no spending in April.
In addition, for July, August, September, October, November and December 2021, the NNPC said frontier exploration gulped N2.443 billion, N6.167 billion, N4.021 billion, N3.250 billion, N2.268 billion and N6.604 billion, respectively.
The national oil firm also disclosed that the N36.824 billion spent on frontier exploration in 2021 was N13.176 billion lower than the N50 billion budgeted for the project for the period.
Furthermore, the NNPC said it spent N46.658 billion in 2021, on the national domestic gas development programme; N39.431 billion on gas infrastructure development programme; N0.885 billion on renewable energy development projects; and N60 billion on pre-export financing.
Also, the corporation said it spent N1 billion on the Nigerian-Morocco pipeline gas project, while under recovery on premium motor spirit (PMS) and refineries rehabilitation gulped N1.43 trillion and N100 billion, respectively, in the year under review.
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